Day 2, We Visit a School

So its our second day here, and after breakfast at the hotel we get on a bus to go to Korea University for our first 3 lectures. The university is in a beautiful park-like setting, and we have to hike awhile to get to our building. We have been warned that Korean lecturers are not like those in the US - they are not animated, they read from scripts, may be hard to understand, etc. But ours are great. The first is a woman who explains Hanguel, the Korean alphabet, to us. I follow for awhile, but she loses me when explaining the consonant sounds. I am trying to get my computer connected to the internet, and although my iPhone logged on just fine, my laptop won't. One of the young girls who is a Korean Society employee and is helping us, notices that I am having trouble and brings over a young Korean University guy who messes with the settings on my computer and fixes everything. So now I can look up some of what the lecturers are talking about.
The second lecture was Korean economics from Park's coup in the 60s up to the present. I had forgotten that the current president is Park's daughter. We learn about the move from agricultural, primary economic activities to Korea's inclusion in the 20-50 club in 2012: $20,000 per capita GDP and 50 million population. Only 7 countries worldwide have attained this status.  The lecturer also talks about the demographic decline, and how some municipalities are paying couples for a third child.  The push for the top has left Korea without enough people to do the dirty/dangerous jobs.
The third lecture is on Korean education.  The woman introduces the lecture with a 15 minute video, then we ask questions and she talks about the Korean system.  There is so much stress on the students, many of whom go to school for 15 hours every day.  They have school, plus after-school study schools and private tutoring, because they want to gain entry into one of the 3 top universities.  If they don't, it will bring shame upon their family.
We eat lunch at the university, a delicious buffet.  I remember my Korean manners, and when the professor we are sitting with pours us all a little wine for the toast, I pour his - it is rude to fill your own glass here.  Dr. ___ is very widely traveled, I find out.  He is off to Peru next , and then is going to NYC and Washington, DC.  He works with LDCs to help them develop the economy of their countries.
Our lectures and lunch have run past the alloted time, so we hurry to the bus and drive to Goyang Foreign Language High School, a private, Christian school where everybody studies from 7 am to 11 pm.  When we arrive we are lead into the auditorium-type room, where our student guides are waiting. We listen to introductions, watch a short video, then our guides take us on a tour, and then to the room where we will teach a short lesson.
Jina is the only one whose name I know and we are now fb friends.  She's a junior, and studies ALL the time.  Her friends said she's real smart.  She lived in San Francisco for awhile, her dad was working there - he's a doctor, I think she said.  Jina said school in SF was easy, she was at a gifted school, but when she came back to Korea she was far behind, and had to study all the time for 2 months to catch up.
That says wonders for our system of education.....
Teaching the class was fun - me and a teacher from Miami split the 30 minutes we had with them, and we all laughed the whole time.  She had a Miami Heat hat, and of course I am a Spurs fan, so we started with that.  The students were  not any different than American kids at heart - the class clown, the smart one who knows all the answers, etc.  I had a great time talking with them about Texas, and learning some about Korea.
Korean students stay in one classroom all day, just like in China, and the teachers rotate through the rooms.  There were no science labs.... although to be fair, the school focuses on foreign language: Spanish, English, French, Chinese.  The students have a countdown going for how long it is to the state exams that determine college admissions: 132 days.  All hearts and minds are focused on that.  At this school students take 10 classes a day, and then spend 2 1/2 hours in the evening after supper studying in a room with 50+ students and I teacher, no questions allowed, no talking, just studying.
On a side note, the girls all thought the Koreas should be reunited.  We didn't have time to get into any depth, but they were passionate in their sincerity.
We drove back to the hotel in evening traffic, and were going to go out, but after taking to subway trains to the "happening" area, we were too tired to do much besides eat and go home.  But I know the place to be if you are a 20-something Korean single person, because they were all there.
Enjoy the pics - click the little on to get the big ones.  They're all from the iPhone - my bag was too full to carry my camera.